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1.
David M. Bjerklie Jacqueline D. LaPerriere 《Journal of the American Water Resources Association》1985,21(2):235-242
Effects of placer mining on the hydrology and water quality of several interior Alaska streams were studied as part of a project on the impacts of placer mining on stream ecosystems. Surface and subsurface waters were analyzed in the field for conductivity, pH, temperature, alkalinity, total and calcium hardnesses, iron, copper, manganese, ammonia-N, nitrate-N, nitrite-N, settleable solids, and turbidity. Total, nonfiltrable, and filtrable residues were determined in the laboratory. In the streams placer mining increased turbidity, settleable solids, nonfiltrable and filtrable residues and total iron. Surface and subsurface water levels, as measured in wells driven in the stream beds, were correlated with stream flow. Fine sediment deposited on stream beds in mined drainages reduced the hydraulic contact between the surface and subsurface waters of the stream and caused the piezometric water level to be below the surface water level of the mined streams. This resulted in higher specific conductance and significantly lower dissolved oxygen concentrations in the subsurface waters of mined streams compared to their surface waters. No significant differences were found for any water quality characteristics comparing surface to subsurface waters for the unmined streams. 相似文献
2.
The mining industry can be considered the backbone of the Indian economy as well as facilitating the power that drives most of the other industries in the company. The overburden and waste rocks produced during coal mining are major concerns in regard to the amount of land that is required for their disposal, as well as the stability of dumps for these materials, which are of increasing height. Land reclamation issues are also a concern. In this work the adverse impacts caused by the dumping of overburden on land and acidic mine water on water bodies is discussed. Remote sensing tools were used along with the laboratory experimentation to assess the various impacts. This study also shows that silt released from waste dumps, can affected the angle of repose of the overburden dump slope. The angle of repose of the overburden materials varies with particle size composition. Thus, use of in‐pit crushers in large opencast mining operations can effectively reduce the area locked under the waste dumps. The acid neutralization potential of fly ash and overburden for the treatment of acid water was tested in the laboratory by using fly ash and waste rock materials on acidic coalfield water. The results are encouraging, and fly ash may prove to be a good acid neutralizer when used in conjunction of coal overburden material. 相似文献
3.
Long-term evaluation of coal fly ash and mine tailings co-placement: A site-specific study 总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2
Muluken B. Yeheyis Julie Q. Shang Ernest K. Yanful 《Journal of environmental management》2009,91(1):237-244
This study presents the results of a laboratory investigation conducted to evaluate the efficiency of coal fly ash to control the formation of acid mine drainage (AMD) from mine waste. Site-specific materials, coal fly ash from Atikokan Thermal Generating Station and mine tailings from Musselwhite mine, were mixed at different proportions for the investigation of the drainage chemistry and the optimal mix using static testing (acid–base accounting) and kinetic (column) testing. The acid–base accounting (ABA) results indicated that the fly ash possessed strong alkaline (neutralization) potential (NP) and could be used in the management of reactive mine tailings, thus ensuring prevention of AMD in the long-term. Column tests conducted in the laboratory to further investigate long-term performance of fly ash in the neutralization and prevention of acid mine drainage from tailings similarly showed that mixing fly ash with mine tailings reduces dissolution of many heavy metals from tailings by providing alkalinity to the system. It was found that a fly ash to tailings mass ratio equal to or greater than 15% can effectively prevent AMD generation from Musselwhite mine tailings in the co-placement approach. 相似文献
4.
Siderite (FeCO3) is commonly found in coal overburden and, when present, can cause interference in the determination of neutralization potential (NP). Under acidic testing conditions, FeCO3 reacts to neutralize acid, which contributes to the NP. However, continued weathering of FeCO3 (oxidation of Fe2+ and hydrolysis of Fe3+) produces a neutral to slightly acidic solution. The effects of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), potassium permanganate (KMnO4), and O2 on the laboratory measurement of NP of siderite samples taken from overburden were examined. All oxidation treatments lowered the NP values of the siderite samples as compared with the standard USEPA method. However, oxidation with H2O2 produced variable results depending on the amount of H2O2 added. Neutralization potential values obtained after oxidation treatments were highly correlated with Mn concentration. Reaction products (i.e., 2-line ferrihydrite) of siderite samples with H2O2 and KMnO4 were not representative of natural siderite weathering. Oxidation with O2 produced the lowest NP values for siderite samples. The reaction products produced by oxidation with O2 most closely represent those intermediate products formed when siderite is exposed to atmospheric weathering conditions. Oxidation with O2 also proved to be the most reproducible method for accurately assessing NP when siderite is present in overburden samples. 相似文献
5.
Jacqueline D. LaPerriere Stephen M. Wagener David M. Bjerklie 《Journal of the American Water Resources Association》1985,21(2):245-252
Placer gold mining, which extracts gold from buried or exposed alluvia, is often conducted on or near streams. Such mining has the potential to adversely affect water quality. Other heavy metals associated with the gold (such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, zinc, and copper) may be freed to enter streams. Mercury may also enter streams if miners are using it to recover fine particles of gold. These heavy metals are toxic and thus may be harmful to the aquatic life of the streams receiving effluent or runoff from placer mines. In 1982 we sampled two streams intensively - one heavily mined and one unmined - for total recoverable arsenic, mercury, lead, zinc, and copper. Only mercury was not significantly higher in concentration in the mined streams. In 1983 we sampled two stream pairs three times, and 10 other sites at least once, for total and dissolved arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead, zinc, and copper. Mercury and cadmium were not significantly elevated in mined streams, but the concentrations of total arsenic, lead, zinc, and copper, and dissolved arsenic and zinc were significantly higher in streams below active placer mining sites than in these that were not being mined or those that had never been mined. Additionally, total arsenic, lead, zinc, and copper and dissolved arsenic and copper became elevated after mining began in 1983 on a previously unmined stream. 相似文献
6.
J. V. Bonta C. R. Amerman W. A. Dick G. F. Hall T J. Harlukowicz A. C. Razem N. E. Smeck 《Journal of the American Water Resources Association》1992,28(3):577-596
ABSTRACT: A study was conducted over a six-year period in East-Central Ohio to determine the effects of surface mining and reclamation on physical watershed conditions and on ground-water hydrology in three ground-water zones in three small experimental watersheds. Mining disturbances in watersheds adjacent to the experimental sites affected ground-water levels in the undisturbed experimental watersheds prior to actual mining in the experimental sites. New subsurface flow paths, with different characteristics, formed during mining and reclamation. At all three sites mining dewatered the saturated zone above the underclay of the mined coal seam. Mining and reclamation affected ground-water levels below the mined coal seam in the middle and lower zones within at least two sites. Ground-water level recovery in the mined upper saturated zone was slow and irregular both temporally and spatially after reclamation. Hydraulic conductivities of postmining (Phase 3) spoil were generally greater than those of Phase 1 bedrock, but wide spatial variability was observed. Modelers need to be aware of the complexities of new flow paths and physical characteristics of subsurface flow media that are introduced by mining and reclamation, including destruction of the upper-zone clay. 相似文献
7.
Response of Fish and Macroinvertebrate Bioassessment Indices to Water Chemistry in a Mined Appalachian Watershed 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
Multimetric indices based on fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages are commonly used to assess the biological integrity
of aquatic ecosystems. However, their response to specific stressors is rarely known. We quantified the response of a fish-based
index (Mid-Atlantic Highlands Index of Biotic Integrity, MAH-IBI) and a benthic invertebrate-based index (West Virginia Stream
Condition Index, WV-SCI) to acid mine drainage (AMD)-related stressors in 46 stream sites within the Cheat River watershed,
West Virginia. We also identified specific stressor concentrations at which biological impairment was always or never observed.
Water chemistry was extremely variable among tributaries of the Cheat River, and the WV-SCI was highly responsive across a
range of AMD stressor levels. Furthermore, impairment to macroinvertebrate communities was observed at relatively low stressor
concentrations, especially when compared to state water quality standards. In contrast to the WV-SCI, we found that the MAH-IBI
was significantly less responsive to local water quality conditions. Low fish diversity was observed in several streams that
possessed relatively good water quality. This pattern was especially pronounced in highly degraded subwatersheds, suggesting
that regional conditions may have a strong influence on fish assemblages in this system. Our results indicate that biomonitoring
programs in mined watersheds should include both benthic invertebrates, which are consistent indicators of local conditions,
and fishes, which may be indicators of regional conditions. In addition, remediation programs must address the full suite
of chemical constituents in AMD and focus on improving linkages among streams within drainage networks to ensure recovery
of invertebrate and fish assemblages. Future research should identify the precise chemical conditions necessary to maintain
biological integrity in mined Appalachian watersheds. 相似文献
8.
Brent Johnson Elizabeth Smith Jerry W. Ackerman Susan Dye Robyn Polinsky Eric Somerville Chris Decker Derek Little Gregory J. Pond Ellen D'Amico 《Journal of the American Water Resources Association》2019,55(1):247-258
Spatial patterns in major dissolved solute concentrations were examined to better understand impact of surface coal mining in headwaters on downstream water chemistry. Sixty sites were sampled seasonally from 2012 to 2014 in an eastern Kentucky watershed. Watershed areas (WA) ranged from 1.6 to 400.5 km2 and were mostly forested (58%–95%), but some drained as much as 31% surface mining. Measures of total dissolved solutes and most component ions were positively correlated with mining. Analytes showed strong convergent spatial patterns with high variability in headwaters (<15 km2 WA) that stabilized downstream (WA > 75 km2), indicating hydrologic mixing primarily controls downstream values. Mean headwater solute concentrations were a good predictor of downstream values, with % differences ranging from 0.55% (Na+) to 28.78% (Mg2+). In a mined scenario where all headwaters had impacts, downstream solute concentrations roughly doubled. Alternatively, if mining impacts to headwaters were minimized, downstream solute concentrations better approximated the 300 μS/cm conductivity criterion deemed protective of aquatic life. Temporal variability also had convergent spatial patterns and mined streams were less variable due to unnaturally stable hydrology. The highly conserved nature of dissolved solutes from mining activities and lack of viable treatment options suggest forested, unmined watersheds would provide dilution that would be protective of downstream aquatic life. 相似文献
9.
US government regulations require that all effluents from industrial operations, including mining, meet certain water quality standards. Constructed wetlands have proven to be useful in helping to attain those standards. Application of this biotechnology to mine water drainage can reduce water treatment costs and improve water quality in streams and rivers adversely affected by acidic mine water drainage from abandoned mines. Over 400 constructed wetland water treatment systems have been built on mined lands largely as a result of research by the US Bureau of Mines. Wetlands are passive biological treatment systems that are relatively inexpensive to construct and require minimal maintenance. Chemical treatment costs are reduced sufficiently to repay the cost of construction in less than a year. The mine waste water is typically treated in a series of excavated ponds that resemble small marsh areas. The ponds are engineered to facilitate bacterial oxidation of iron. Ideally, the water then flows through a composted organic substrate supporting a population of sulphate-reducing bacteria which raises the pH. Constructed wetlands in the USA are described - their history, functions, construction methodologies, applicabilities, limitations and costs. 相似文献
10.
Dama L. Wirries Archie J. McDonnell 《Journal of the American Water Resources Association》1983,19(2):235-240
ABSTRACT: Samples were collected from the drainages of inactive deep coal mine sites located in eight states. Drainage quality was found to be highly variable, with a majority of sites exceeding federal effluent quality guidelines. Concentrations of trace metals including cadmium, mercury, zinc, and nickel were low. The presence of overburden calcareous material was shown to affect drainage quality. A consistent pattern of pH-acidity response was found to exist for the mine sites monitored. An empirical formula was developed to characterize this response. 相似文献
11.
A long-term water quality monitoring program was established to evaluate the effects of agricultural management practices on water quality in the Little Vermilion River (LVR) watershed, IL. This watershed has intensive random and irregular subsurface drainage systems. The objective of this study was to assess the fate and transport of soluble phosphorus (soluble P) through subsurface drainage and surface runoff. Four sites (sites A, B, C, and E) that had subsurface and surface monitoring programs were selected for this study. Three of the four study sites had corn (Zea mays L.) and soybeans (Glycine max L.) planted in rotations and the other site had seed corn and soybeans. Subsurface drainage and surface runoff across all sites removed an average of 16.1 and 2.6% of rainfall, respectively. Annual flow-weighted soluble P concentrations fluctuated with the precipitation, while concentrations tended to increase with high precipitation coupled with high application rates. The long-term average flow-weighted soluble P concentrations in subsurface flow were 102, 99, 194, and 86 microg L(-1) for sites A, B, C, and E, respectively. In contrast, the long-term average flow-weighted soluble P concentrations in surface runoff were 270, 253, 534, and 572 microg L(-1) for sites As, Bs, Cs, and Es, respectively. These values were substantially greater than the critical values that promote eutrophication. Statistical analysis indicated that the effects of crop, discharge, and the interactions between site and discharge and crop and discharge on soluble P concentrations in subsurface flow were significant (alpha = 0.05). Soluble P mass loads in surface runoff responded to discharge more consistently than in the subsurface flow. Subsurface flow had substantially greater annual average soluble P mass loads than surface runoff due to greater flow volume. 相似文献
12.
James V. Bonta Warren A. Dick 《Journal of the American Water Resources Association》2003,39(4):793-815
ABSTRACT: Information is lacking on the watershed scale effects of mining and reclaiming originally undisturbed watersheds for coal on surface water chemical concentrations and load rates for a variety of constituents. These effects were evaluated on three small, geologically dissimilar watersheds subjected to surface mining in Ohio. Comparisons were made between phases of land disturbances using ratios of average concentrations and load rates: Phase 1 (natural), subphases of Phase 2 (mining and reclamation), and subphases of Phase 3 (partial reclamation and final condition) using 4,485 laboratory analyses of 34 constituents. Average concentration and load rate ratios were categorized into three classes—minor, moderate, and substantial. Mining and reclamation (M/R) affected flow duration curves in different ways‐baseflow changes were variable, but high flows generally increased. The average concentration ratios for all sites were classified as 15 percent “minor,” 36 percent “moderate,” and 49 percent “substantial” (average ratio of 2.4.) Generally load rate ratios increased due to mining and reclamation activities (average ratio of 3.3). Minor, moderate, and substantial impacts were found on average for 7 percent, 23 percent, and 70 percent, respectively, of load rate ratios. The impact of M/R on average load rates was not necessarily the same as on average concentrations due to changed hydrology and can be opposite in effect. The evaluation of the impacts of M/R requires knowledge of changing hydrologic conditions and changing supplies and rates of release of chemicals into streams. Median sediment concentration ratio is an indicator of average constituent load rate ratio of a wide variety of chemical constituents and is useful for development of best management practices to reduce chemical loads. The site at which diversion ditches were not removed during final reclamation sustained large chemical load rates, and removal of diversions at the other mined site reduced load rates. Revegetation of poorly reclaimed areas decreased chemical load rates. Chemical load rates were sensitive to geology, mining, and reclamation methods, diversions, and changing hydrology, concentration flow rate regressions, and watershed areas. 相似文献
13.
14.
A small (1 km2) salt-affected stream drainage on the High Plains north of Denver, Colorado was sampled to determine the near-surface dispersion of soluble salts and metals from low-sulfur coal mining waste (spoil). Surface waters collected along the 0.8-km stream reach, and aqueous leachates of spoil and naturally saline local soil, were analyzed for chemical constituents and sulfur isotopes. In this semiarid setting with abundant carbonate-bearing surficial sediments, the limited, mildly acidic drainage from the spoil pile is quickly neutralized, restricting the mobility of many elements. However, some spoil-derived constituents were clearly traceable within the upper 0.4 km of the stream reach. Spoil leachates and surface water near the spoil pile have distinctive compositions of major anions and cations, and elevated levels of dissolved nitrate compared with downstream waters. Spoil-derived sulfate was traceable because it has generally positive values of delta34S that contrasted with generally negative values of delta34S in soil leachates and evaporite salts from the surrounding area. Spatial-chemical sampling of surface water showed an abrupt increase in dissolved U, Se, B, Li, and Mn in the lower 0.4 km of the stream reach where shallow ground water from surrounding irrigated fields contributed to surface flow. The downstream evolution of surface water chemistry and sulfur isotopic composition is consistent with mixing between spoil-affected upstream water and irrigation-return water. The methods described should be applicable at other sites in similar settings where the environmental effect of low-sulfur coal mining waste must be assessed and where access to samples of shallow ground water is limited. 相似文献
15.
John C. Clausen Kenneth N. Brooks 《Journal of the American Water Resources Association》1983,19(5):769-772
ABSTRACT The impacts of milled peat mining on runoff quality in northern Minnesota were determined using a multiple watershed approach. The frequency distributions of water quality constituents were used to detect whether runoff from a mined bog differed from that of 15 unmined (control) bogs. Peat mining increased water temperature, suspended sediment, specific conductance and concentrations of acidity, iron, sodium, and nitrogen species, although drinking water standards were not exceeded (α= 0.05). The method presented may be applicable for other nonpoint pollution investigations. 相似文献
16.
Daniel M. Evans Carl E. Zipper Erich T. Hester Stephen H. Schoenholtz 《Journal of the American Water Resources Association》2015,51(5):1436-1452
Surface coal mining operations alter landscapes of the Appalachian Mountains, United States, by replacing bedrock with mine spoil, altering topography, removing native vegetation, and constructing mine soils with hydrologic properties that differ from those of native soils. Research has demonstrated hydrologic effects of mining and reclamation on Appalachian landscapes include increased peakflows at newly mined and reclaimed watersheds in response to strong storm events, increased subsurface void space, and increased base flows. We review these investigations with a focus on identifying changes to hydrologic flow paths caused by surface mining for coal in the Appalachian Mountains. We introduce two conceptual control points that govern hydrologic flow paths on mined lands, including the soil surface that partitions infiltration vs. surface runoff and a potential subsurface zone that partitions subsurface storm flow vs. deeper percolation. Investigations to improve knowledge of hydrologic pathways on reclaimed Appalachian mine sites are needed to identify effects of mining on hydrologic processes, aid development of reclamation methods to reduce hydrologic impacts, and direct environmental mitigation and public policy. 相似文献
17.
Restoring Forests and Associated Ecosystem Services on Appalachian Coal Surface Mines 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
Zipper CE Burger JA Skousen JG Angel PN Barton CD Davis V Franklin JA 《Environmental management》2011,47(5):751-765
Surface coal mining in Appalachia has caused extensive replacement of forest with non-forested land cover, much of which is
unmanaged and unproductive. Although forested ecosystems are valued by society for both marketable products and ecosystem
services, forests have not been restored on most Appalachian mined lands because traditional reclamation practices, encouraged
by regulatory policies, created conditions poorly suited for reforestation. Reclamation scientists have studied productive
forests growing on older mine sites, established forest vegetation experimentally on recent mines, and identified mine reclamation
practices that encourage forest vegetation re-establishment. Based on these findings, they developed a Forestry Reclamation
Approach (FRA) that can be employed by coal mining firms to restore forest vegetation. Scientists and mine regulators, working
collaboratively, have communicated the FRA to the coal industry and to regulatory enforcement personnel. Today, the FRA is
used routinely by many coal mining firms, and thousands of mined hectares have been reclaimed to restore productive mine soils
and planted with native forest trees. Reclamation of coal mines using the FRA is expected to restore these lands’ capabilities
to provide forest-based ecosystem services, such as wood production, atmospheric carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, watershed
protection, and water quality protection to a greater extent than conventional reclamation practices. 相似文献
18.
Longevity of acid discharges from underground mines located above the regional water table 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
The duration of acid mine drainage flowing out of underground mines is important in the design of watershed restoration and abandoned mine land reclamation projects. Past studies have reported that acid water flows from underground mines for hundreds of years with little change, while others state that poor drainage quality may last only 20 to 40 years. More than 150 above-drainage (those not flooded after abandonment) underground mine discharges from Pittsburgh and Upper Freeport coal seams were located and sampled during 1968 in northern West Virginia, and we revisited 44 of those sites in 1999-2000 and measured water flow, pH, acidity, Fe, sulfate, and conductivity. We found no significant difference in flows between 1968 and 1999-2000. Therefore, we felt the water quality data could be compared and the data represented real changes in pollutant concentrations. There were significant water quality differences between year and coal seam, but no effect of disturbance. While pH was not significantly improved, average total acidity declined 79% between 1968 and 1999-2000 in Pittsburgh mines (from 66.8 to 14 mmol H+ L(-1)) and 56% in Upper Freeport mines (from 23.8 to 10.4 mmol H+ L(-1)). Iron decreased an average of about 80% across all sites (from an average of 400 to 72 mg L(-1)), while sulfate decreased between 50 and 75%. Pittsburgh seam discharge water was much worse in 1968 than Upper Freeport seam water. Twenty of our 44 sites had water quality information in 1980, which served as a midpoint to assess the slope of the decline in acidity and metal concentrations. Five of 20 sites (25%) showed an apparent exponential rate of decline in acidity and iron, while 10 of 20 sites (50%) showed a more linear decline. Drainage from five Upper Freeport sites increased in acidity and iron. While it is clear that surface mines and below-drainage underground mines improve in discharge quality relatively rapidly (20-40 years), above-drainage underground mines are not as easily predicted. In total, the drainage from 34 out of 44 (77%) above-drainage underground mines showed significant improvement in acidity over time, some exponentially and some linearly. Ten discharges showed no improvement and three of these got much worse. 相似文献
19.
Use of man-made impoundment in mitigating acid mine drainage in the North Branch Potomac River 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
The US Department of the Army, Baltimore District Corps of Engineers, oversees a long-term monitoring study to assess and
evaluate effects of the Jennings-Randolph reservoir on biota in the North Branch Potomac River. The reservoir was intended,
in part, to mitigate effects of acid mine drainage originating in upstream and headwater areas. The present study assessed
recovery of benthos and fish in this system, six years after completion of the reservoir. Higher pH and lower iron and sulfate
concentrations were observed upstream of the reservoir compared to preimpoundment conditions, suggesting better overall water
quality in the upper North Branch. Water quality improved slightly directly downstream of the reservoir. However, the reservoir
itself was poorly colonized by macrophytes and benthic organisms, and plankton composition suggested either metal toxicity
and/or nutrient limitation. One large tributary to the North Branch and the reservoir (Stony River) was shown to have high
(and possibly toxic) levels of manganese, iron, zinc, and aluminum due to subsurface coal mine drainage. Macroinvertebrate
diversity and number of taxa were higher in sites downstream of the reservoir in the present study. Compared with previous
years, the present study suggested relatively rapid recovery in the lower North Branch due to colonization from two major
unimpacted tributaries in this system: Savage River and South Branch Potomac. Abundance of certain mayfly species across sites
provided the most clear evidence of longitudinal gradients in water quality parameters and geomorphology. Fish data were consistent
with macroinvertebrate results, but site-to-site variation in species composition was greater. Data collected between 1982
and 1987 suggested that certain fish species have unsuccessfully attempted to colonize sites directly downstream of the reservoir
despite the more neutral pH water there. Our results show that recovery of biota in the North Branch Potomac was attributed
to decreased acid inputs from mining operations and dilution from the Savage River, which contributed better water quality.
Continued improvement of North Branch Potomac biota may not be expected unless additional mitigation attempts, either within
the reservoir or upstream, are undertaken. 相似文献
20.
Dennis R. Helsel 《Journal of the American Water Resources Association》1983,19(6):881-888
ABSTRACT: Stream water during fair weather (base flow) is largely ground water discharge, which has been in contact with minerals of the underlying aquifer. Base flow water quality should therefore reflect aquifer mineralogy as well as upstream land use. Three upstream mining categories (unmined lands, abandoned coal mines, and reclaimed coal mines) differed in pH, specific conductance, sulfate, iron, aluminum, and alkalinity for 122 streams in eastern Ohio. Aquifer rock type influenced pH, specific conductance, sulfate, iron, and alkalinity. Reclamation returned many components of acid mine drainage to near unmined levels, although sulfate and specific conductance were not improved. Acid mine drainage problems were less severe in watersheds underlain by the calcareous Monogahela Formation. These results should ayply to other Appalachian coal regions having similar rock units. The water quality data distributions were neither consistently normal nor lognormal. Statistical tests utilizing ranks of the water quality data, instead of the data themselves, proved useful in analyzing the influences of mining category and rock type. 相似文献